New York –Advocacy and community groups working on behalf of Puerto Rican families in the states and on the island expressed outrage today at news reports of the Trump Administration’s plan to illegally raid disaster relief funding designated for Puerto Rico and other areas in the US hit by devastating storms and fires, to fund the building of a barrier along the border with Mexico.

“This preposterous plan to take crucial funding from Puerto Ricans, Texans, Californians and others who are far from recovered from storms, fires and other disasters last year represents yet another escalation of Trump’s persecution of Black and Brown communities,” said Julio López Varona, Director of Community Dignity Campaigns, Center for Popular Democracy, and steering committee member of VAMOS4PR. “Once again, he wants to circumvent the law and all principles of common decency, insisting on walls of hate to divide us instead of rebuilding homes and businesses in our communities.”

“Trump’s proposal is an abominable sleight of hand, taking resources that millions of hardworking people in Puerto Rico and in states across the country need to rebuild their lives, and turning them into a weapon to further his racist and xenophobic agendas,” said Héctor Figueroa, president of SEIU 32BJ and member of the steering committee of VAMOS4PR. “This idea mocks the will of the majority of people in this country, who understand that we need to help people in need, instead of playing with tax dollars to prove a point.”

"Every day we see our displaced Puerto Rican families and our immigrant families fighting to survive through community building and sharing,” said Bárbara López, Director, Make the Road CT. “This latest attack by president Trump is an attempt to pit brown communities against each other and fund hate. Our communities in Connecticut will not stand for this."

"Trump’s racist agenda is in full force as he continues to threaten Black and Brown communities from getting the resources they need to recover from natural disasters while pushing for a more persecution and death at the border,” said Patricia Zapata, a member of CASA. “CASA will continue fighting against any efforts from the administration to hurt communities of color and we demand that our representatives stand strong against the funding of the wall of hate."

“We will continue to welcome and support Puerto Ricans displaced by the hurricane, and do all in our power to help them while the island rebuilds,” said Debbie Soto, President of Organize Florida. “Donald Trump's actions are appalling. The Trump administration must stop the persecution of our communities and increase funding for real national emergencies, like the humanitarian crisis created by Hurricane Maria.”

25. Ana Maria Archila: Last September the sexual-violence survivor confronted Sen. Jeff Flake in an elevator on live TV moments before he was to vote on Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination...

25. Ana Maria Archila: Last September the sexual-violence survivor confronted Sen. Jeff Flake in an elevator on live TV moments before he was to vote on Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination. “In a split second I made the decision to use my voice and my story,” she says. “It forced him to grapple with the gravity of the message he’d send to women by voting to install in the Supreme Court someone accused of sexual assault.

Throughout law school I worked with the Suspension Representation Project (SRP) as an advocate in New York City public school suspension hearings, and am now helping to coordinate a new project at...

Throughout law school I worked with the Suspension Representation Project (SRP) as an advocate in New York City public school suspension hearings, and am now helping to coordinate a new project at Proskauer through our partnership with SRP and The Center for Popular Democracy. This post will examine the school suspension process in New York City, and the great need for increased attention to this issue and representation for the students in these hearings.

Trump’s call for a “wall” then is, as Ana María Archila, from the Center for Popular Democracy, wrote in a press release, the “latest in a series of racist, anti-immigrant attacks that are meant...

Trump’s call for a “wall” then is, as Ana María Archila, from the Center for Popular Democracy, wrote in a press release, the “latest in a series of racist, anti-immigrant attacks that are meant to fuel hatred.”

"In fact, they funded the opposition," she said during a briefing hosted by Local Progress. "And what we saw was not just an attack on policy, but on the very existence on public policy making and...

"In fact, they funded the opposition," she said during a briefing hosted by Local Progress. "And what we saw was not just an attack on policy, but on the very existence on public policy making and the role we have to play."

Read the full article here.

01/6/2019 | K5 News | Local Progress: A National Network of Progressive Local Elected Officials